The Burrow
by captandor
Summary: Harry stops into the Burrow three months after the Battle of Hogwarts. Thanks to Molly Weasley, he learns that some things will never change. A slice of life from the One Day at a Time RPG series.


Harry hadn't seen the Weasley's since the battle, other than hiding out under his Invisibility Cloak during Fred's funeral. He made sure Kingsley had sent a note to Molly and Arthur that Harry was attending but didn't want to be seen - he didn't want the family to think he had abandoned them on such a hard day. He'd seen Ron look around before the funeral started, and it had taken all of his will power to stay still, on the outskirts of the Weasley land, and not go to his friend. Hermione was there with him, that would have to do. Harry didn't want to ruin their day - they needed it, and Fred deserved to be the center of his own memorial - Harry felt like it was the least he could do for his fallen friend.

But he'd missed them. He'd missed Ron and he'd missed Ginny and he'd missed their parents and their brothers and how the house always seemed to be filled with so much... life. So much movement. Grimmauld Place wasn't like that at all. So he'd snuck into Kingsley's office unannounced and gotten a Portkey to and from the Burrow from the Minister. Shacklebolt had been his closest confidant since the battle, and he'd thanked him yet again for everything he had done.

Harry spun out from the Portkey just outside the lands the Weasleys owned and made the short trek up to the house. He knocked, but there was no answer, so he made his way into the house, figuring they wouldn't mind. Of course, if they hated him for disappearing, something he'd feared, maybe they would mind a lot. "Hello?" He called out, his voice coming out cracky and young. He hated that.

Suddenly, as if she'd been conjured, Molly had her arms wrapped around him tightly and she was nearly sobbing into his shoulder. "Harry! Oh, Harry!" She shouted in his ear. Well, apparently Molly didn't hate him. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice still raised in its usual pitch, looking him up and down intensely and tutting her tongue over how she thought he clearly hadn't been eating enough.

"I, um," Harry stumbled over his answer, "I thought I'd come to say hello?" He settled on. He didn't actually know what he was really doing here. He'd written Ron when he'd moved back to Grimmauld Place, but hadn't seen him since. Then again, he'd only seen Hermione, he hadn't seen anyone other than the Minister at all in months.

"Of course! You must be looking for Ron, but he's out for the day," she didn't say doing what. Maybe Ginny was here? Surely they had a lot to talk about. "He and Ginny are in Scotland..." She continued, but he didn't quite understand what she'd said. Oh, well.

"Well, come then, let's get you some lunch." She finally said, pushing him towards the kitchen.

"Arthur's at the Ministry, of course. We were so glad to get your note before..." She didn't elaborate but said instead, "Well, thank you. It meant a lot to know you were there, even if we couldn't see you. It was nice of Kingsley to pass on the news. We were so worried about you." She sighed and gave him a smile, leaning over to place her hand on his cheek. "It really is good to see you," she said softly, before moving to bustle about the kitchen and placed a huge platter of ham and bread and cheese and leftover pumpkin pasties in front of him. "Eat up, now, I think I need to have a word with that house-elf of yours, he's clearly not doing the right kind of cooking for you." She shook her head and got herself a cold glass of water and a tall glass of milk for Harry before settling in and starting right in on updating him on the family and the local gossip and you would think he had come by every week to chat with her just like this the way she was acting.

After he'd eaten, she wouldn't even hear of him trying to help her clean up and instead, she walked down to the Portkey spot with him and give him a big tight hug before watching him disappear. Harry went back to Grimmauld Place feeling very full and slightly less anxious, but somehow missing his friends and their family even more.


End file.
